Do the interior walls on these architectural plans look load-bearing?

4 years ago

Hi there. I'd like to do some renovations on my new house and take out some walls for more of an open concept. The house is a 1981 contemporary saltbox in the New England area of the United States. I have the original architectural plans.

It looks to me that none of the interior walls are load bearing. Specifically what I want to do is:
1) take out the south (right) side 2 story (cathedral ceiling) wall of the main floor staircase, and bring it down to handrail height.
2) take out the south wall of the northwest corner room (den) to open it to the hallway/stairwell/living room.
3) widen the opening or completely remove the wall between the northwest (den) and northeast (dining) rooms

Plans: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Usw_h9HlBwzYgmv25CSHLP6Z8aeD0vAa/view?usp=sharing

The basement has since been finished and includes a bathroom on the center of the east wall (top center) and some partition walls running the full length of the basement on either side of the stairwell.

Do you all agree with me that none of the interior walls are load-bearing/structural, and that I should be able to remove them without problem?

Thanks,

Christina

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BobH

4 years ago

To my eyes, the walls you refer to in #1 and #2 are not loadbearing, but the wall referred to in #3 is loadbearing.
Your 2nd floor joists run front to back, so the walls that run left to right are loadbearing. Today’s code requires loadbearing walls to be 2x6 stud walls, but back in the 80’s they could be 2x4’s. So, you can’t judge a loadbearing wall by looking at the wall thickness on the plans or as it was built.

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